Kansas State University Athletics
Letting His Play Do the Talking
Oct 04, 2024 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Picture, if you will, the play. No. 23 Kansas State led No. 20 Oklahoma State, 21-13, with just over 13 minutes remaining in the third quarter last Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The Wildcats faced second-and-3 at their own 34-yard line. Lined up three yards behind quarterback Avery Johnson was junior running back DJ Giddens, his heels resting on the 26-yard line as the Wildcats' quarterback, offensive line and tight ends eyed the Cowboys' 4-3 defense with the linebackers scooted up in run support. Johnson turned and handed off the football to 6-foot-1, 212-pound Giddens, who burst up the gut of the defense with the assistance of a key block from center Sam Hecht.
Giddens then popped out the other side, jumped ahead of linebacker Nick Martin, then switched gears, paused near the middle of the field at the 41-yard line, and safety Dylan Smith paused along with him, then Giddens gave a slight wiggle and blew to the outside.
Suddenly all Smith saw was the back of Giddens' jersey, as he turned on the jets, reportedly peaking at 20.8 miles-per-hour, reaching midfield, squaring his shoulders with the ball tucked underneath his right arm. Four Oklahoma State defenders trailed Giddens as he darted down the field, angling toward the right sideline, and just ahead of fifth-year senior cornerback Korie Black, who could only flail his arms like helicopter blades chopping at air as Giddens crossed the front pylon.
Touchdown. Sixty-six yards.
"The same look happened earlier in the game, and DJ had a 10-yard run and got tackled in open space by the safety," K-State running backs coach Brian Anderson says. "When he and I got to the sideline after that initial play, we looked at the tablets. I said, 'Where's the grass at?' He said, 'Over to the right.' I said, 'Make that guy miss and run to the grass.' Then came the 66-yard run. It was the exact same picture. He did exactly what we talked about on the sideline. He executed when the opportunity came again. Just a wiggle to make him miss and run to the grass without losing any speed.
"And that is what fired me up."
Through five games for K-State, 4-1, which rose to No. 20 in the AP Top 25 this week, the quiet, mild-mannered Giddens, a native of Junction City, Kansas, who arrived with no recruiting stars, has fired up K-State fans, his every exploit eliciting a social-media explosion among Wildcat Nation, while his sizzle has accompanied a mighty ascent up the national rushing charts and put him into rare air in the K-State record books.
Giddens has 83 carries for 604 yards and two touchdowns, and he ranks fourth in the FBS in total rushing yards, while his 120.80 rushing yards per game ranks eighth and his 139.00 scrimmage yards per game ranks 12th nationally. His 7.28 yards per rushing attempt ranks No. 3 in the FBS among running backs with at least 80 carries. He is on pace to break the K-State record of 6.49 yards per rush set by Darren Sproles in 2003.
Giddens ranks third in the FBS with six rushes of at least 30 yards. He is tied for fifth with four plays from scrimmage of 40-plus yards. One of those plays was a 45-yard touchdown reception at Tulane on a fourth-and-1 play.
Then there's this: Giddens is the only running back in the FBS with two runs of 50-plus yards and one reception of 40-plus yards.
Giddens entered the season carrying goals. So far so good.
"Catching out of the backfield, catching down the field, running outside — home-run runs," Giddens said. "Show that I've got speed and can catch. Even though Deuce (Vaughn) has been gone a couple years, I'm still looking at his tape every day and every week, studying his tape still, because we run the same routes."
After his 15-carry, 187-yard, 1-touchdown rushing performance against the Cowboys, Giddens, who does a majority of his talking through his actions, indicated that there's more to go for himself and a K-State offense that ranks 43rd in total offense (432.4), eighth in rushing offense (252.2) and 106th in passing offense (180.2).
"It's almost there," Giddens said. "We have a lot more in the tank, though. We have a lot more to prove. We played pretty good."
Could it be the year of the running back in the Big 12? Consider the Big 12 currently has six running backs averaging more than 100 rushing yards per game, more than any other Power 4 conference in the country: Texas Tech's Tahj Brooks (137.75), UCF's RJ Harvey (131.25), Giddens (120.80), Utah's Micah Bernard (109.40), Arizona State's Cam Skattebo (108.25), and Kansas' Devin Neal (102.60).
"I think (Giddens is) one of the more underrated running backs in our league," K-State head coach Chris Klieman says. "We have phenomenal running backs in this league. We just played one (Oklahoma State's Ollie Gordon II). We're going to continue to play them. I hope from the other side, people are seeing the same thing and saying, 'You have to game plan a little bit for 31.' He's a dominant factor and he seems to prove it every week."
Over the summer, a variety of social media graphic rankings depicted the top players at a given position. One such ranking released by FOX Sports listed the nation's top running backs this way: 1. Ollie Gordon II (Oklahoma State), 2. Jarquez Hunter (Auburn), 3. TreVeyon Henderson (Ohio State), 4. Quinshon Judkins (Ohio State), and 5. Omarion Hampton (North Carolina).
K-State quarterback Avery Johnson said: "Every K-State fan knows how talented DJ is, but I feel like he doesn't get talked about enough on a national level. DJ is one of the best, if not the best, running back in college football and nobody gives him enough credit for that."
Today, Anderson, the 29-year coaching veteran and sixth-year running backs coach at K-State, doesn't appear particularly worried about Giddens' star status — or lack of.
"I think he is where he wants to be," Anderson says. "He's comfortable with that. Obviously, playing behind Deuce Vaughn, people had eyes on him. But we thought he could play as a true freshman when he got here. I'm glad we redshirted him. Because he came in and did an unbelievable job. As far as being underrated and nobody knows who he is, that's for other people to decide. If no one is talking about him, he's fine with that."
Junction City high school head coach Randall Zimmerman echoes that sentiment. Zimmerman, who has been head coach at Junction City for 31 years, chuckles when he thinks back to how Giddens, as a freshman tailback splitting time in the backfield, showed "endless potential" and as a senior "took off and exploded."
A host of past long runs by Giddens at Junction City High School flooded back as Zimmerman saw him blaze down the field on his 66-yard run against the Cowboys.
"There was his great top-end speed, his great vision, and he got to the open space and took off," Zimmerman says. "It's just so fun watching his progression. I couldn't be more appreciative of the staff at Kansas State and the things they're doing with him."
But there's another layer to Giddens. And it began at a young age. Although driven, Giddens didn't show much emotion — if any.
"DJ and I talk quite often," Zimmerman says. "He maybe had a little performance anxiety when he was younger, and part of that was he didn't want eyes on him, and he didn't want to be in the spotlight. That's DJ. DJ is very, very comfortable sitting on the shore fishing. He's very comfortable with two or three true friends and not doing things that other people are doing.
"What impresses me most of all is after a big play, he hands the football to the official and then celebrates with his teammates. He doesn't bring individual attention to himself. I appreciate that so much, especially in today's society where it's 'look at me.' That's not DJ. DJ doesn't want any eyes on him. He wants the eyes on everybody else. That's DJ Giddens."
Zimmerman pauses.
"He's a super, super kid," he continues. "I love the kid and what he's become and what he's going to be down the road."
After rushing for 518 yards as a sophomore while backing up Consensus All-American Deuce Vaughn in 2022, Giddens amassed 1,226 yards and 10 touchdowns and added 323 receiving yards and three scores to earn All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors by the league's coaches in 2023. Giddens forced 69 missed tackles (seventh among Power 5 running backs, according to Pro Football Focus) and kept on running. He rushed for a career-high 207 yards and four touchdowns against UCF. He had 151 yards and one touchdown against NC State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, afterward in the postgame news conference coining the phrase, "turnt," which has become a highly popular, fun-loving buzzword among coaches, teammates and Wildcat fans.
Currently, Giddens has 2,348 career rushing yards, which ranks ninth all-time in K-State history. He needs 138 more rushing yards to pass Collin Klein (2,485) for eighth place. Farther down the list, he needs 471 to pass Ell Roberson (2,818) for fifth place. At his current average of 120.80 rushing yards per game this season, Giddens is on pace to hit 3,193 career rushing yards. That would put him at No. 3 all-time in K-State history behind only Darren Sproles (4,979) and Deuce Vaughn (3,604).
This summer, K-State offensive coordinator Conor Riley said that Giddens "is what I would consider to be one of the best in the country (at running back)," and assistant head coach/cornerbacks coach Van Malone said that "he's inflicting punishment on defenders," and would be a "much more physical runner" than in 2023. Anderson liked how Giddens packed a punch and said that, pound for pound, he was one of the strongest players on the team.
"His next step on the field, for me, is him not taking so many hits," Anderson said, "but him delivering more hits on people."
Point taken. Meanwhile, over the summer, Giddens further elevated his football IQ, mastering gap integrity, coverages and blitz pickups. It's helped to translate into what we see today. He is a well-rounded, all-around running back for the Wildcats, who with his size at times conjures visions of former K-State greats Josh Scobey and Daniel Thomas. But he might be better.
Giddens averaged 9.54 yards per rush against UT Martin, 6.00 at Tulane, 5.06 against Arizona, 4.89 at BYU, and 12.47 against Oklahoma State. This season, he also became the third-fastest player in K-State history to reach 2,000 career rushing yards. He needed just 346 rushing attempts to accomplish the feat.
What impresses Klieman the most about Giddens?
"The fact that you rarely see a change in personality, you rarely see any frustration, you rarely see the excitement, but it's even-keel and you get a guy who comes to work every day," Klieman says. "I don't care if it's in the weight room, a run in the summer, or practice on a Wednesday, he sets up those moves that he makes on Saturday on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday by talking to the scout kids and seeing those pictures. He's a professional at what he does. He learned an awful lot from Deuce about how to really attack a game plan and how to attack a defense in a running style. Even though he has a different running style than Deuce, he learned a lot about how to set up defenders.
"He doesn't just run the ball. There's a lot behind what he does, and he puts the time in the film room, which I love that he does. Whether you guys talk about him, or I talk about him, he's fine with it. He doesn't care if anybody talks about him."
As he has demonstrated time and time again this season, tucking and running and catching and darting, Giddens appears to be on top of his game, as the Wildcats prepare for a big test at Colorado next Saturday in Boulder, Colorado. With Johnson and a powerful offensive line, Giddens should get his shots at buzzing by the Buffaloes. As the Big 12 heads toward the midway point of the regular season, the Year of the Running Back features a dangerous weapon who resides in Manhattan.
He might not say much. But so far, all eyes are on him, and by the end of the season, he could have everybody talking.
Picture, if you will, the play. No. 23 Kansas State led No. 20 Oklahoma State, 21-13, with just over 13 minutes remaining in the third quarter last Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The Wildcats faced second-and-3 at their own 34-yard line. Lined up three yards behind quarterback Avery Johnson was junior running back DJ Giddens, his heels resting on the 26-yard line as the Wildcats' quarterback, offensive line and tight ends eyed the Cowboys' 4-3 defense with the linebackers scooted up in run support. Johnson turned and handed off the football to 6-foot-1, 212-pound Giddens, who burst up the gut of the defense with the assistance of a key block from center Sam Hecht.
Giddens then popped out the other side, jumped ahead of linebacker Nick Martin, then switched gears, paused near the middle of the field at the 41-yard line, and safety Dylan Smith paused along with him, then Giddens gave a slight wiggle and blew to the outside.
Suddenly all Smith saw was the back of Giddens' jersey, as he turned on the jets, reportedly peaking at 20.8 miles-per-hour, reaching midfield, squaring his shoulders with the ball tucked underneath his right arm. Four Oklahoma State defenders trailed Giddens as he darted down the field, angling toward the right sideline, and just ahead of fifth-year senior cornerback Korie Black, who could only flail his arms like helicopter blades chopping at air as Giddens crossed the front pylon.
Touchdown. Sixty-six yards.
The play was significant as it gave the Wildcats a two-score lead for the first time in an eventual 42-20 trouncing of the Cowboys. But the play was big for another reason as well.31 went 66 for the tuddy 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/BuYmdSKLla
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) September 28, 2024
"The same look happened earlier in the game, and DJ had a 10-yard run and got tackled in open space by the safety," K-State running backs coach Brian Anderson says. "When he and I got to the sideline after that initial play, we looked at the tablets. I said, 'Where's the grass at?' He said, 'Over to the right.' I said, 'Make that guy miss and run to the grass.' Then came the 66-yard run. It was the exact same picture. He did exactly what we talked about on the sideline. He executed when the opportunity came again. Just a wiggle to make him miss and run to the grass without losing any speed.
"And that is what fired me up."
Through five games for K-State, 4-1, which rose to No. 20 in the AP Top 25 this week, the quiet, mild-mannered Giddens, a native of Junction City, Kansas, who arrived with no recruiting stars, has fired up K-State fans, his every exploit eliciting a social-media explosion among Wildcat Nation, while his sizzle has accompanied a mighty ascent up the national rushing charts and put him into rare air in the K-State record books.
Giddens has 83 carries for 604 yards and two touchdowns, and he ranks fourth in the FBS in total rushing yards, while his 120.80 rushing yards per game ranks eighth and his 139.00 scrimmage yards per game ranks 12th nationally. His 7.28 yards per rushing attempt ranks No. 3 in the FBS among running backs with at least 80 carries. He is on pace to break the K-State record of 6.49 yards per rush set by Darren Sproles in 2003.
Giddens ranks third in the FBS with six rushes of at least 30 yards. He is tied for fifth with four plays from scrimmage of 40-plus yards. One of those plays was a 45-yard touchdown reception at Tulane on a fourth-and-1 play.
Then there's this: Giddens is the only running back in the FBS with two runs of 50-plus yards and one reception of 40-plus yards.
Giddens entered the season carrying goals. So far so good.
"Catching out of the backfield, catching down the field, running outside — home-run runs," Giddens said. "Show that I've got speed and can catch. Even though Deuce (Vaughn) has been gone a couple years, I'm still looking at his tape every day and every week, studying his tape still, because we run the same routes."
After his 15-carry, 187-yard, 1-touchdown rushing performance against the Cowboys, Giddens, who does a majority of his talking through his actions, indicated that there's more to go for himself and a K-State offense that ranks 43rd in total offense (432.4), eighth in rushing offense (252.2) and 106th in passing offense (180.2).
"It's almost there," Giddens said. "We have a lot more in the tank, though. We have a lot more to prove. We played pretty good."
Could it be the year of the running back in the Big 12? Consider the Big 12 currently has six running backs averaging more than 100 rushing yards per game, more than any other Power 4 conference in the country: Texas Tech's Tahj Brooks (137.75), UCF's RJ Harvey (131.25), Giddens (120.80), Utah's Micah Bernard (109.40), Arizona State's Cam Skattebo (108.25), and Kansas' Devin Neal (102.60).
"I think (Giddens is) one of the more underrated running backs in our league," K-State head coach Chris Klieman says. "We have phenomenal running backs in this league. We just played one (Oklahoma State's Ollie Gordon II). We're going to continue to play them. I hope from the other side, people are seeing the same thing and saying, 'You have to game plan a little bit for 31.' He's a dominant factor and he seems to prove it every week."
Over the summer, a variety of social media graphic rankings depicted the top players at a given position. One such ranking released by FOX Sports listed the nation's top running backs this way: 1. Ollie Gordon II (Oklahoma State), 2. Jarquez Hunter (Auburn), 3. TreVeyon Henderson (Ohio State), 4. Quinshon Judkins (Ohio State), and 5. Omarion Hampton (North Carolina).
K-State quarterback Avery Johnson said: "Every K-State fan knows how talented DJ is, but I feel like he doesn't get talked about enough on a national level. DJ is one of the best, if not the best, running back in college football and nobody gives him enough credit for that."
Today, Anderson, the 29-year coaching veteran and sixth-year running backs coach at K-State, doesn't appear particularly worried about Giddens' star status — or lack of.
"I think he is where he wants to be," Anderson says. "He's comfortable with that. Obviously, playing behind Deuce Vaughn, people had eyes on him. But we thought he could play as a true freshman when he got here. I'm glad we redshirted him. Because he came in and did an unbelievable job. As far as being underrated and nobody knows who he is, that's for other people to decide. If no one is talking about him, he's fine with that."
Junction City high school head coach Randall Zimmerman echoes that sentiment. Zimmerman, who has been head coach at Junction City for 31 years, chuckles when he thinks back to how Giddens, as a freshman tailback splitting time in the backfield, showed "endless potential" and as a senior "took off and exploded."
A host of past long runs by Giddens at Junction City High School flooded back as Zimmerman saw him blaze down the field on his 66-yard run against the Cowboys.
"There was his great top-end speed, his great vision, and he got to the open space and took off," Zimmerman says. "It's just so fun watching his progression. I couldn't be more appreciative of the staff at Kansas State and the things they're doing with him."
But there's another layer to Giddens. And it began at a young age. Although driven, Giddens didn't show much emotion — if any.
"DJ and I talk quite often," Zimmerman says. "He maybe had a little performance anxiety when he was younger, and part of that was he didn't want eyes on him, and he didn't want to be in the spotlight. That's DJ. DJ is very, very comfortable sitting on the shore fishing. He's very comfortable with two or three true friends and not doing things that other people are doing.
"What impresses me most of all is after a big play, he hands the football to the official and then celebrates with his teammates. He doesn't bring individual attention to himself. I appreciate that so much, especially in today's society where it's 'look at me.' That's not DJ. DJ doesn't want any eyes on him. He wants the eyes on everybody else. That's DJ Giddens."
Zimmerman pauses.
"He's a super, super kid," he continues. "I love the kid and what he's become and what he's going to be down the road."
After rushing for 518 yards as a sophomore while backing up Consensus All-American Deuce Vaughn in 2022, Giddens amassed 1,226 yards and 10 touchdowns and added 323 receiving yards and three scores to earn All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors by the league's coaches in 2023. Giddens forced 69 missed tackles (seventh among Power 5 running backs, according to Pro Football Focus) and kept on running. He rushed for a career-high 207 yards and four touchdowns against UCF. He had 151 yards and one touchdown against NC State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, afterward in the postgame news conference coining the phrase, "turnt," which has become a highly popular, fun-loving buzzword among coaches, teammates and Wildcat fans.
Currently, Giddens has 2,348 career rushing yards, which ranks ninth all-time in K-State history. He needs 138 more rushing yards to pass Collin Klein (2,485) for eighth place. Farther down the list, he needs 471 to pass Ell Roberson (2,818) for fifth place. At his current average of 120.80 rushing yards per game this season, Giddens is on pace to hit 3,193 career rushing yards. That would put him at No. 3 all-time in K-State history behind only Darren Sproles (4,979) and Deuce Vaughn (3,604).
This summer, K-State offensive coordinator Conor Riley said that Giddens "is what I would consider to be one of the best in the country (at running back)," and assistant head coach/cornerbacks coach Van Malone said that "he's inflicting punishment on defenders," and would be a "much more physical runner" than in 2023. Anderson liked how Giddens packed a punch and said that, pound for pound, he was one of the strongest players on the team.
"His next step on the field, for me, is him not taking so many hits," Anderson said, "but him delivering more hits on people."
Point taken. Meanwhile, over the summer, Giddens further elevated his football IQ, mastering gap integrity, coverages and blitz pickups. It's helped to translate into what we see today. He is a well-rounded, all-around running back for the Wildcats, who with his size at times conjures visions of former K-State greats Josh Scobey and Daniel Thomas. But he might be better.
Giddens averaged 9.54 yards per rush against UT Martin, 6.00 at Tulane, 5.06 against Arizona, 4.89 at BYU, and 12.47 against Oklahoma State. This season, he also became the third-fastest player in K-State history to reach 2,000 career rushing yards. He needed just 346 rushing attempts to accomplish the feat.
What impresses Klieman the most about Giddens?
"The fact that you rarely see a change in personality, you rarely see any frustration, you rarely see the excitement, but it's even-keel and you get a guy who comes to work every day," Klieman says. "I don't care if it's in the weight room, a run in the summer, or practice on a Wednesday, he sets up those moves that he makes on Saturday on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday by talking to the scout kids and seeing those pictures. He's a professional at what he does. He learned an awful lot from Deuce about how to really attack a game plan and how to attack a defense in a running style. Even though he has a different running style than Deuce, he learned a lot about how to set up defenders.
"He doesn't just run the ball. There's a lot behind what he does, and he puts the time in the film room, which I love that he does. Whether you guys talk about him, or I talk about him, he's fine with it. He doesn't care if anybody talks about him."
As he has demonstrated time and time again this season, tucking and running and catching and darting, Giddens appears to be on top of his game, as the Wildcats prepare for a big test at Colorado next Saturday in Boulder, Colorado. With Johnson and a powerful offensive line, Giddens should get his shots at buzzing by the Buffaloes. As the Big 12 heads toward the midway point of the regular season, the Year of the Running Back features a dangerous weapon who resides in Manhattan.
He might not say much. But so far, all eyes are on him, and by the end of the season, he could have everybody talking.
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